NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 1
Verification of Benefits Teleconference
Transcript
Trainer: Lucy Miller
November 19, 201; 2:00 p.m. ET
Operator:
This is Conference #:
78904121.
Good afternoon, my name is (Derek) and I will be your
conference operator today. At this time, I would like to
welcome everyone to the Verifications of Benefits Conference
Call.
All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any
background noise. After the speaker’s remarks, there will be
a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a
question during that time, simply press star then the number
one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw
your question, press the pound key.
Thank you. Ms. Lucy Miller, you may begin your call.
Lucy Miller:
Thank you, (Derek). Good afternoon everybody. I hope that
all of you are enjoying as beautiful as all day as we here in
Louisville, Kentucky are. It’s absolutely gorgeous, very nice
temperature, beautiful sunny day. Terrible day to have to be
inside on the telephone listening to a training but well, there
you have it.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 2
Let’s go ahead and just do an overview. You guys have been
a through, many of you had been through this process lots of
times so you know the drill, but for those of you who are new,
let’s just make sure that we’re all together on things. You
should have received the PowerPoint presentations by e-mail
from our dear friend Julie Schall. You should also have
received two additional handouts by e-mail that hopefully
you’ve printed out or have opened on your screen.
One is a super handy quick reference chart for verifying
benefits and we’ll reference that a little bit as we get to the
end of the presentation. Another is just a sample pamphlet,
and example of something you could use if you’re having
trouble getting written verifications of benefits. If you have
to actually call and talk to someone on the phone, we’ve
provided you with a little sample template to use if you do
phone verification of benefits.
Now, hopefully you’ve got your slides in front of you. I will
indicate what number slide we’re so you should be able to
follow along. We do call for questions twice during a
presentation. About halfway through, I’ll ask (Derek) to open
the lines and anyone who has a question can do so at that
time and then again we’ll take questions at the very end of
the program.
Now, something I’m going to ask of you guys is that this
training on verification of benefits and as you know and
probably many of you know, the primary means of verifying
social security benefits is the BPQY, which is the Benefits Plan
and Query, and we will touch on that in today’s presentation
and provide some basic information about that type of
verification and certainly how you go about receiving BPQY.
But I want to remind you that we will be offering an in-depth
training on that subject of interpreting BPQY in December.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 3
I believe that’s scheduled for December 3rd. So, if you’ve
dialed into this hoping to get every single question about
every crazy BPQY you’ve ever gotten and couldn’t understand
it, this is not the call for that. So, dial in to the next one. Be
sure that you register for that one and dial into that one of
you have lots of questions about odd things you’ve seen on
BPQY or how to interpret BPQY. So, we don’t have the time
to cover that in-depth today.
At the end of the program, I’ll remind you again about
evaluations. You’ll get an e-mail from our staff with an
evaluation and we’ll want you to complete that and we’ll also
remind you about the assessment. Remember to get credits
of the new supplemental trainings, you have to successfully
complete the assessment. And I’ll remind you about that at
the end of the call today.
All right gang, without further ado, let’s jump right in and
take a peek at the learning objectives. I think that those of
you who are new are going to really appreciate this training.
It’s very practical and very hands-on. You’re going to come
out of this two-hour phone session, really I hope,
understanding exactly why you need to verify benefits, which
benefits need to be verified because my goodness, if you try
to verify everything about a beneficiary, that’s all you do all
day, and when verification should be performed and then
finally, my objective is to help you come away from this
training knowing how to verify each of the most common
types of Federal benefits. Certainly, the benefits that we
cover in the manual and that are the most common ones that
our beneficiaries will receive. So, that’s where we’re headed
today.
And if you look at the next slide, talking about slide three
here, before we get into why verified benefits, I’m going to go
ahead and just say something out loud that I think many of
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 4
you are probably thinking, all right, we all understand no
one’s favorite part of the CWIC job is verification of benefits.
All of us got that. Many of you may know is that several
years ago, I actually was providing direct services to a bond
case load and I was right in your seat. I was in there working
directly with beneficiaries in California and in Pennsylvania
and I sit in Louisville, Kentucky.
So, trying to figure out how to verify benefits for people that
lived in two states that I previously had never worked in was
a challenge and getting that verification was difficult, OK. I
know, this is a pain in the neck. We’re going to try to teach
you strategies to make this part of your job faster and easier,
more efficient while still meeting the requirements that you
have. So, that is our recognition well, this is not a fun part of
your job, but it is really necessary.
And that’s what gets us into the why. You really have to
confirm what a beneficiary is receiving from Social Security
and multiple other sources if you’re going to be providing that
individualized kind of benefits analysis and advice. And you
do that to makes sure you’re not giving the person incorrect
information. You know, lots of beneficiaries aren’t really clear
about what benefits they receive, how much they receive,
sometimes people don’t even know all of the benefits that
they’re eligible for or receiving.
So, we have to dig a little bit, do that due diligence, make
sure that we’re confirming with all the sources of this benefit
exactly what a person is getting and how much they’re
getting. Now, if you don’t have verified benefits, you do take
a risk that you’re going to make a mistake, that you’re going
to tell a beneficiary something that’s wrong and nobody
dialing in on this call wants to do that, I know. We all make
mistakes but if you verify carefully before you provide that
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 5
analysis and advice, you’re going to avoid a lot of potential
errors.
The other reason that we verify is because we really want you
to provide comprehensive counseling. Remember it’s not just
about the Social Security cash benefits, there’s Medicare and
there’s all those weird programs that help pay for the out-ofpocket expenses with Medicare. Remember those Medicare
savings programs, things like that. There’s Medicaid and
many of you live in states with many different categories of
Medicaid coverage and they’re all different so, we need to
verify that to make sure that we’re providing comprehensive
counseling because going into paid employment can affect a
number of different benefits and if you leave one off, then
you’re not providing the full range of counseling that we
would expect and that Social Security expects of you.
The third reason is that, you know, in a perfect world,
everybody’s benefits are perfect and they’re all exactly the
way they’re supposed to be and nothing is messed up. But
we don’t live in that perfect world so, when we verify, you can
identify problems that you might need to help resolve and
especially with BPQY, you’ll note sometimes when you get
those reports from Social Security, that there are issues with
the benefits, things that need to be changed or that you
might need to help fix. So, that’s the reason. It’s really
important and it isn’t optional. Verification of benefits is a
very important requirement for with the projects and
everybody needs to make sure that they’re doing the full
verification process and completing that before offering that
specific customized and individualized information about how
the job that the individual wants is going to affect those
(benefits).
So, on slide four, who needs benefits verification? Well,
generally, people that you’re providing very generic
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 6
information and referral services to, meaning low priority with
the candidates. Those folks typically do not require
verification because you’re not offering specific customized
individualized information adding summary or generic
information. So, if someone calls you up and says I get SSI
and I’m kind of thinking about going to work, I don’t have a
career goal yet, haven’t really done anything to prepare, but
I’d like a general idea of how work would affect my benefits.
We don’t need to verify that. You would offer an explanation
in general terms of how work affects SSI benefits, OK.
There’s no way that you guys have time to verify the benefits
of everyone that might get through to you the phone. It’s
impossible and Social Security doesn’t expect that.
However, if it is someone that is a high priority for your
services, that is someone who would be receiving
individualized case specific analysis and advise, those are the
people that you want to spend your time on do your due
diligence for the verification. So, typically the other issue that
we would want to point out is that you would want to get the
benefits verified before you either meet with the individual or
before you’re going to have a lengthy phone conversation in
which you would actually provide that case specific
information.
So, verification comes early in that service delivery process
and we would really encourage you not to get into a whole lot
of detail with people until you’ve actually verified those
benefits to make sure that you’re not going to have to
backtrack and say “You know, I told you something wrong. I
got your verification. You don’t really get this, you get this.”
In order to not do that, don’t provide a lot of really specific
information until you’re sure of the facts and you’ve got those
verifications completed.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 7
Now, verification is absolutely required if you are going to
develop a benefit summary and analysis report. And again,
what is that report? That report is the written summary of
the individualized advisement that you’ve already performed
typically by phone. We see individually you may have spent
an hour or more discussing very specific effects on the
benefits that will occur based on persons very specific career
goals and the BS&A is what captures all of that counseling in
written form and you would never want to do that without
having all of your ducks in a row, meaning your verification of
all of the benefits that would require it.
So that begs – then on the next slide so, how I know what to
live by, how much is enough, how is too much and what
needs to be verified. Well, the main thing that would help
you with this is using a very thorough information gathering
tool. Now, there is no required information gathering tool,
right. Social Security doesn’t tell you, you have to use this or
you have to use that. We do offer a template in the WIPA
training manual. Anybody who’s come to the initial training
has seen an example of an information gathering tool. You
don’t have to use that but you need to use something
comparable. OK, that would include all of the fields, all of the
information gathering fields that are on that form because if
you leave something off of that, you’re going to leave of a
potential piece of information that could create issues when
you come back and do that individualized counseling.
So, your information gathering process is critically important
and it’s from that that you determine what to verify. The rule
of thumb, very simple, any benefit that a beneficiary or a
dependent family member receives, OK, that could be
affected by going to work and earning money or becoming
self-employed, needs to be verified. So, that’s a list of things
and you’ll see some of the things that we’re mentioning here
on slide five. All Social Security benefits, all health insurance
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 8
that could be affected by working and Medicaid is critically
important and remember Medicaid is not Medicaid is not
Medicaid.
When you’ve seen one form of Medicaid, you’ve seen one
form of Medicaid. Lots of state have many, many different
categories of Medicaid eligibility and it’s important that you be
a hundred percent clear which form or forms of Medicaid an
individual receives. And remember, it is quite possible and
many people do, have multiple eligibility categories of
Medicaid at the same time. Medicare, of course would need
to be verified as well as any assistance that a beneficiary is
getting with the premiums and out-of-the-pocket costs, and
those would be the Medicare Savings Programs which at the
MSP and the part D low income subsidy, what Social Security
also refers to sometimes as extra help, then any other
Federal state or local benefits and the common ones are
going to be the ones that we go through in your manual.
That’s going to be TANF, that’s going to be SNAP formerly
known as food stamps, that’s going to be housing subsidies
that are received from Federal sources typically HUD, OK,
Worker’s Compensation is one, unemployment insurance is
another, OK and veterans benefits of which there are multiple
types, all right.
And then you may end up with an individual showing up with
other benefits that are administered either from your state or
even potentially from the local of this local community. There
are benefits that are not Federal in nature that someone could
receive that might be affected by working. So, you want to
make sure you’re digging and gathering all the information
you need on that.
Some other things you need to know, marital status is really
important in certain circumstances, you know, in the SSI
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 9
program if you’re married there’s deeming, OK, and benefits
received by a spouse and dependent children. Lots of times
there will be child and care benefits for a Title II disability
beneficiary of spouse receiving an additional check called
child in care and dependent children could be receiving child’s
benefits. All of those benefits come off of that primary
number holder and if that number holder goes to work and
engages an FTA and that check stops, the other auxiliary,
right, the other family members trying off of that record will
also experience a cessation in benefits. That’s a really
important fact to discuss with the beneficiary certainly
children in the family that are receiving Medicaid.
There are lots of ways to qualify for Medicaid, remember, and
the children might be collecting Medicaid through a program
known as CHIP, Child Health Insurance Program or some
other conduit. You need to know what those things are
because of the family unit as a whole could be affected by
your primary beneficiary’s employment status.
Finally, people get all kinds of different private disability or
pension benefits so, you need to know about that, you know,
surprise it, disability benefits are affected by working, most
are as a matter of fact. You’re going to want to know about
anything that could possibly be affected by working. So
again, go back to your information gathering protocol, are
you sure that the way you are gathering information you’re
getting everything you need? We want you to go back and
double check that tool that you’re using to guide the interview
that you’re conducting with beneficiaries, to gather all of that
information that you need to provide really comprehensive
counseling.
So on slide six, again, any benefit that could be affected by
employment needs to be verified and this is the final bullet
here, it’s simply a reminder that the Social Security benefits
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 10
are just – iceberg. You need to verify any Federal state, local
benefits identified during the information gathering process to
the extent that you forget something, you’re going to leave
out perhaps a critical piece of information and you never want
the beneficiaries that you’re working with to have nasty
surprises when they go to work and those earnings start to be
reported or are noticed by benefit program. No nasty
surprises, that’s our goal. Everybody needs to be informed in
advance about what’s going to happen so that they can plan
and be prepared and not have any unpleasant surprises.
OK, on slide seven. So, what do you need to verify about
these different benefits. Well, what needs to be verified is
going to vary based on the benefit. Each benefit program is
different and may have some variance in terms of what you
need to know. Typically, the kind of things you need to know
if it’s a cash benefit, you need to know the amount, you need
to know the type. Remember that Social Security offers
multiple forms of benefits and not just disability benefits. You
need to make sure you know which flavor of Social Security
that this person gets.
Another example of that is a benefit that veterans, VA offer a
couple of different types of benefits. Actually, many different
types of cash benefits and military retirement is another type
and they’re really different. Even though they may come
from the same agency or source or similar agencies, you need
to be 100 percent clear which type of benefit does this person
get. In some cases, you need to know the entitlement date.
For some benefits, that’s not important but for other benefits
you might need to know things like work incentive setup and
(used) and what is available. Certainly in the Social Security
program, when you get Title 2 disability benefits, if the trial
work period has been used, that’s really important and you
need to verify that. You also might need to know recertification dates. So, if I’m in a Medicaid wave of program,
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 11
when is the Medicaid agency going to be checking my
financial status and the partly low income subsidy program,
there are some certification dates that are important because
certain things are updated at that time.
Not every benefit would matter when the re-certification
dates are occurring but some do. Recommendation for what
to verify is available on that wonderful quick reference guide
we gave you. What we tried to do (Darren) and our dear
friend Molly Sullivan developed that quick reference guide, we
tried to list every sort of potential kind of benefit that might
need to be verified and then list for you in a quick, easy way
the sources of verification of those various benefits and just
idea, ways for you to get that done, and we tried to do it in a
way that doesn’t require, you know, hours and hours of
reading.
So, I’ll think you’ll find that quick reference guide really
helpful particularly those of you who are new to the CWIC
job. You might want to print that out, tack it to that bulletin
board, have that available so when a new type of benefit pops
up, when you do information gathering you could say, “OK
now, how do I verify this” and you have your quick reference
guide there.
On slide eight, how do you verify benefits? What’s that
process? And basically, it’s not rocket science. You have to
go to the administering agency, now that can be a challenge
sometimes knowing who administers which benefit. But
that’s key, finding out who administers which benefit, which
agency, and then contacting that agency directly to seek
preferably written documentation, but if that’s not available,
having a verbal confirmation over the phone or in person or
you can document via a staff note or using that little template
that we gave you, what the staff person of the administering
agency told you.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 12
So, what are some things that you could get that might be
used as verification? Well, you don’t always to the agency, a
lot of times the beneficiary you’re working with will have the
documentation on hand. A lot of veterans will keep their
award letter when they’re first found eligible for veteran’s
compensation or the pension or military retirement. Certainly
a lot of people will have their SNAP allocation verified in
writing and they will retain that paperwork. If the beneficiary
has the current paperwork to verify what they’re getting,
that’s quick and easy, right. Ask the beneficiary to send you
that documentation and we would scan it and upload it in the
ETO or make a copy for your paper file and then mail the
original back to the beneficiary if they want it back.
That’s always the number one thing that I would do. We’re
trying to teach you go with the easiest and fastest method of
proper verifications first, exhaust all those avenues before
you have to go into processes that may take more time. So,
first step, ask the beneficiary. What do you have on hand
that could be used to verify what you’re getting?
If the beneficiary doesn't have anything to provide to you, the
next step is to go to the benefit agency or a partner agency
with access to share data. You are looking for a statement, a
report, a letter or verbal verification and we prefer written
first, but if you can only get verbal verification, then you just
have to do written documentation yourself.
Now, what you don’t want is a verification from a third party.
So, here's an example of that. You have a beneficiary that
says, "well I get Medicaid and I have – I know I have some
waiver but I'm not really sure the name of the waiver" and
maybe in your State, as in many states, there are many,
many different Medicaid waiver programs.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 13
So what you do is maybe you call the case manager that
works with the individual, let's say at the developmental
disabilities community agency and you get the case manager
on the phone, and the case manager says, "well, yes, this
beneficiary gets the MR/DD waiver or the Supports for
Community Living Waiver or the Head Injury Waiver." But if
that person doesn’t work for the administering agency, it's
kind of like hearsay, and maybe the case manager is not
clear.
So we really don't want you to pursue third party verification.
We really need something from the administering agency
directly, either verbal verification over the phone or
preferably something in writing that verifies which waiver that
person is on or whatever benefit that you're looking for.
All right, on slide 9. How do you get prepared? Like, if you're
new, here we are only on slide 9, and you're probably already
thinking, "Oh, my goodness, this is going to be difficult. I'm
going to have to know all of this stuff about these different
agencies, I don’t even know who these agencies are." That's
all the back office work that needs to be done. That's the
prep, and while you're waiting for your certification to come
through and things are ramping up, this is a really good time
for you to prepare for efficient benefits verification and
spending the time doing all of that prep work so that when
you're able to serve beneficiaries, when they'll start – both
start coming through the pipeline, you are ready and able to
move forward.
First and foremost, are you 100 percent sure you know which
agencies administer the various benefits or programs in your
area? And there are some ways to go about that in an
efficient manner. We'll talk about that in a minute.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 14
Have you researched each of those agencies to find out what
methods of verification are available? My all-time favorite
method of verification is the wonderful online self-service
options. I love those. And they are becoming more and
more available all the time. That makes it easier for the
beneficiary, him or herself, to set up an online account that's
password protected, to get into, you know, you can do this
right now with your Social Security benefits. You can do this
with Medicare benefits and print out something to give to the
CWIC that verifies what the person is getting.
So, have you checked? Is there an on-line self-service
option? And that is always our preference because it is easy
and fast. Now if it turns out that you have to contact the
local agency, if the talk to a human being who works at one
of these agencies, have you taken the time to find out what
the process is that agency requires for accessing information?
And get ready because every agency might be a little bit
different. Typically, you're going to have to just get releases
of information signed, you're going to have to submit those to
the agency. You're going to need to find out how they prefer
to get you the verification of benefit. Do they want to mail it,
is this something they will only do if you go to the office in
person, hopefully not, OK?
And then finally, have you developed relationships with staff
at the various agencies? Now, for some of you, working very
remotely, like when I was working with Bond, I wasn't kind of
like the best buddies with people working in the California
SNAP Office. All right? I live in Louisville. That wasn’t going
to happen. But you can go online and do the research. You
can talk to people by calling and discussing with whoever
answers the phone. Here is what you need, what is the
process for going about this, how do I get it? Sometimes that
information is also available online. It takes time. And I
know it's a pain in the neck. But there's no way around it.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 15
For each of those verification agencies -- those administering
agencies, you need to put in the time conduct the research,
how am I going to get this information? And the longer you
do this job, the more likely it is that you'll start to actually
meet people, either face-to-face or by phone, who work in
these agencies who are willing to help you. And those
relationships are golden.
So when you develop a relationship at the HUD, the Public
Housing Authority or in the TANF office, those are your go-to
people who can help you resolve problems and help you get
that verification that you need. And there is no substitute,
really for that relationship development and it takes time.
On slide 10. If you find the self-service online accounts,
which I think are awesome, what you really prefer to do there
is ask the beneficiary or that person's representative payee,
to set up their own online account. You kind of stay out of
that right? So you let them set up their online account and
then provide the verification information to you. Print it off
and mail to you or if beneficiaries are coming to your office
where they can open the account while you're there and print
that off.
Now, we all know not every beneficiary is going to have the
wherewithal to set up their own account. So when necessary,
provide assistance with setting up online accounts. Now, this
can be done in person or over the phone, and I have done
this over the phone. It's a little awkward but it can be done.
Now obviously, the beneficiary has to have access to a
computer and has to be able to get online. And not everyone
has that capacity. But for folks who can do that, you can
provide that support by phone, you can even e-mail links to
where people need to go to access that account, you could be
on the phone with the person as they're on their computer
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 16
and you're on yours trying to teach them how to open their
account, how to get it all set up.
And then the beneficiary, once they're in and the account is
set up, you can provide advice about how to request
verification and guide them to the process. And you really –
you really don’t want to be in the position of having the
username and the password. That really is very private. You
don’t want that information. What you want to do is support
the beneficiary or a trusted family member, representative
payee, someone who can, on the beneficiary's end, help get
that account set up and then manage it. And what you're
looking for there is the verification, what type of benefit, the
amount of the benefit, recertification date, go back to that
slide that lists for you what do I need to know about this
benefit? Those are the things that you need to get from the
online account.
And it's important to make sure that the individual
understand how to use that account moving forward because
some of those accounts offer a tremendous amount of
information and could be very helpful. For example, the My
Medicare feature, you can track payment of your medical bills
through that, the number of things that a beneficiary can
track, and – that are of interest to the beneficiary and really
helpful. So, you know, this really great empowerment for the
people that you're working with, help the individual set up the
account, show them what all the account can be used to do,
all the different options and this is empowering. Right? It
helps individual manage their benefits better and that's an
important part of what we do.
OK. On slide 11. Verification involving contact with the
administering agencies. So let's say the beneficiary doesn’t
have any information to give you and there's no self-service
option on the internet. So now, you're stuck with having to
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 17
call the agency and get some type of information,
verifications faxed to you, mailed to you, or given to you in
person.
The first important step, we've already mentioned it, get the
required releases in information. None of these agencies are
going to just give that information to you. Some agencies,
like Social Security, require that the beneficiary sign that
agency's very specific release forms. Everybody should be
familiar with the SSA 3288, that's Social Security Release of
Information Form and you're not going to get information
from Social Security without using that form.
Other agencies may require the use of their form, allow you
to use a generic release of information. Those of you who
work for non-profit organizations, that's a very common form
that your agency will have. This isn’t anything new. Those of
us in human services are getting sound releases of
information all the time. So if you're new, check with your
supervisor and make sure you know, does our agency have a
standard form and where is it and how does it work? And you
want to make sure that you are using whatever the agency
has – requires of all staff.
And then you need to write down the protocol for future
reference. You want to make sure that everybody in your
project understand how to contact the different agencies.
This isn't information you want to get and then sit on. This is
information you want to share with your colleagues, and for
those of you who are new, before you start going out there
doing all of this work to research, why don’t you talk with
your colleagues who may have been on board longer than you
have because my guess is your supervisor may already have
this set up if it's not a new program. Other colleagues may
already know, and why should you reinvent the wheel?
That's not efficient. If other people that work in your project
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 18
that had been doing this longer, know the drill, check with
them first, find out what the process is. It's going to save
you a lot of time.
So, on slide 12, the next step, you notice you're not sure
what forms are necessary. You contact the agency and you
request verification. Again, you need to know who you are
supposed to contact. How do you request? Is this done by
fax? Is it done by mail? Is it done in person? What do you
need and where are you supposed to send it? Again, this is
going to vary depending on the agency. All right? Social
Security is going to have one process, food stamp office is
going to have another, the V.A. is going to have another
process.
So, again, find out what the process is, who and how, write
down the protocol for future reference and again, check that
Benefit Verification Quick Reference Guide because it's going
to provide you with an outline for that. But it's important
(Audio Gap) make sure that you're double checking with more
experienced colleague so that you're not spending a lot of
time reinventing the wheel.
All right. That is the general information about why
verification is needed. How – what needs to be verified, who
needs to have information verified, and the basics of getting
verification accomplished. We're going to over in to the next
section, which is actually looking at the different kinds of
benefits and going over methods of verification, but I thought
we'd go ahead and stop now. Let's take some questions if
there are any, (Derek). Poor, (Derek)'s probably fallen asleep
by now. But if there's any questions out there about just the
basics of how to verify, who to verify for before we get into
the specifics of benefit by benefit. So (Derek), if you'll take a
call for questions, that'd be great.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 19
Operator:
At this time, if you want to ask a question, please press star
then if you like to ask a question please press star then one.
And there is a question from the line of (Margot Scolvio).
(Margot Scolvio): Thank you.
Lucy Miller:
Hi, (Margot).
(Margot Scolvio): How are you?
Lucy Miller:
Good.
(Margot Scolvio): I have a question. It said on slide number 8, obtained
beneficiary and it said you said something to the effect of,
you're going to write a note that we should write document, if
you get a verbal verification, then we should write a
statement. If three's a form you want to write that on …
Lucy Miller:
Yes. And when we talk about using that sort of template
when you're – that is not a statement that you would get
from a beneficiary. Like, don’t interview the beneficiary and
sell off that form. Because we don’t consider verbal
verification from the beneficiary adequate. The beneficiary
has to give you …
(Crosstalk)
(Margot Scolvio): … verification from an agency.
Lucy Miller:
You get then from …
(Crosstalk)
Lucy Miller:
… the food stamp office when you call. A lot of times, and
this is something common in Kentucky, the beneficiary will
have the name of their food stamp worker. Oh, it's Mrs.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 20
Smith and it's at the L&N Building in downtown Louisville.
You can call that office, fax in a release if information. You
can call that office and ask to speak with Mrs. Smith, and Mrs.
Smith will verify benefits for you on the phone. But you have
to rite that information down, OK? So you'd have to say, I
spoke with Mrs. Smith. Here's is, you know, it's this agency,
I called on this date at this time and here is what she told me
about what this beneficiary is getting. And there is one of the
handouts. We sent you, it's a template. You can use to make
those ...
(Crosstalk)
(Margot Scolvio): Thank you. Thank you.
Lucy Miller:
Yes. Any other questions?
Operator:
Your next question comes from the line of (Clark Young).
(Clark Young): Hi, there. I have contacted the people that verified SNAP
benefits and they had given me the proper protocol and had
some difficulties a couple times in getting any response. I'm
wondering if it would be best to try to contact them and find
out if that's still the protocol or has the beneficiary contact
their case worker and have them call me or …
Lucy Miller:
Yes.
(Clark Young): What would you …
Lucy Miller:
Either of those two – yes, either of those two ways are good
and (Clark), this is a common problem. So, even though
you've done your job, you found out the protocol, you did
what they told you to do, that release of information is
getting faxed and it's just sitting there and you're not getting
a response. That's a very common problem.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 21
So what we tell people is don't sit there like a victim, OK?
Give a certain amount of time and if you don’t have a
response, you need to come up with a different strategy. And
either of the two things that you suggested will work, if your
beneficiary has a relationship with their case worker. They
don't need that release of information. That person can call
their case worker and say, I absolutely have to have some
type of verification of what I get.
All of these agencies have to provide verification of benefits
all the time. This isn’t anything unusual that you're asking
for, and so that person could request that the verification be
mailed directly to you, faxed directly to you, mailed to the
beneficiary, however that person wants to do it.
The other option is for you to just call the office and ask to
speak to someone in the food stamp office and to say, just
say, I'd faxed in a release for information, I'm from XYZ
agency, I really need this and here's why. What can I do to
facilitate receipt of that information?
(Clark Young): Yes, that sounds good.
Lucy Miller:
Yes. I mean, it's just really tough. I wish I had like, the
magic wand that mad verification easy and these are the
kinds of things that make it everyone's least favorite part of
their job.
(Clark Young): Yes.
Lucy Miller. It's hard and it's time consuming. And you
know, it's like, I've got so many other better things to be
doing with my time than prompting the SNAP office to get me
the verification. So …
(Clark Young): Thanks.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 22
Lucy Miller:
Have you double checked to make sue there's no way to
verify online?
(Clark Young): I have not checked that. No, I …
Lucy Miller:
Check that because it's …
(Clark Young): That was a good source …
Lucy Miller:
Yes.
(Clark Young): … that I didn’t know about.
Lucy Miller:
Yes. Even the Veteran's Administration offers online
verification now which is a God-send to the extent that you
can be independent. Beneficiaries can get what they need
without having to bother the folks that work at this office.
That is the most preferable way to go about it.
(Clark Young): And part two, maybe a question if I could. If you find out
specifically what they're getting for their benefits. I'm
assuming that you put that in the BSA – BS&A, but is it just
some like a statement that say if you make more income, this
is going to be reduced or, I mean, you really can't say how
it's going to affect specifically, right?
Lucy Miller:
Well, we try to be as specific as possible in the BS&A. So
there are some examples in your manual of BS&As. Your
technical assistance liaison at VCU – with examples so that
you can see what we're looking for. But the objective is to be
as specific as possible, so once you know what the
beneficiary's receiving, let's say SSI, and you know what their
anticipated employment goal is, it's about how much they
would earn or maybe even a range of earnings …
(Clark Young): Right.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 23
Lucy Miller:
… you could be very specific in the BS&A and you should be.
You would say based on this level of earnings you can expect
your SSI check to be reduced to about this amount.
(Clark Young): Right.
Lucy Miller:
Based on this level of earnings, this is what would happen.
The more specific you can be, the better.
(Clark Young): But on – specifically on SNAP, you know …
Lucy Miller:
Yes.
(Clark Young): … say, you should be expecting a lower amount of …
Lucy Miller:
Yes.
(Clark Young): … SNAP makes a (part) income?
Lucy Miller:
Yes. We would want you to tell the person if you'll expect a
reduction or that – or that the benefit would be stopped.
(Clark Young): Yes. OK.
Lucy Miller:
We don’t expect to just calculate SNAP. We also don’t expect
you to calculate HUD rental subsidy. Those are complex, and
that's not – you don’t have the capacity to do it.
(Clark Young): Right.
Lucy Miller:
You need to speak and clear enough time so that the person
knows, you know, your SNAP benefit is likely to be – rules are
in your State or if it's high enough income that the SNAP
benefit would stop, you should say that. It'll stop.
(Clark Young): Right.
Lucy Miller:
OK?
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 24
(Clark Young): OK. Right. Thank you.
Lucy Miller:
Sure. Anyone else?
Operator:
Your next question comes from the line of (Donna Lovejay).
Lucy Miller:
Hi, (Donna).
(Donald Lovejay):
Lucy Miller:
Donald, actually.
Donald. I'm sorry.
(Donald Lovejay):
It's all right. What about for benefits? Is that
accepted – acceptable?
Lucy Miller:
Oh, yes. Like when you go – you see online services that
various programs have?
(Donald Lovejay):
Lucy Miller:
Correct.
Yes.
(Donald Lovejay):
Whether or not I'm speaking to a question out an
agency, whether or not the automated response is based
upon Social Security number and date of birth, if that, you
know, is accepted?
Lucy Miller:
The online systems – what I would consider the automated –
like functions where you can verify, they are set up by the
beneficiary. They're password protected if they set up an
account. And then the beneficiary can get into the account
and there are multiple options of what they can do, one of
them typically is print a letter of verification or some sort of
statement of the benefit. And yes, that is accepted and the
beneficiary would print that out and then provide that to you.
And you would retain that in the paper file or upload it, you
know scan it and upload it and pop it in to (ETO), or both.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 25
(Donald Lovejay):
A question that is always phoned to me is if we
direct them to an online site to provide the verification, I'm
looking, for example, as the V.A. site. I mean as a novice …
Lucy Miller:
Yes.
(Donald Lovejay):
… rather confusing to be able to determine how to
navigate through all of this to acquire the verification they
need.
Lucy Miller:
Yes.
(Donald Lovejay):
How do we, you know, assist them with – I know this
should be a great part of the services we're offering but we
still need that verification. Is there …
(Crosstalk)
Lucy Miller:
Yes. It's a good question because you're – if you're not a
veteran,-year-old don't have your own account in that
system.
(Donald Lovejay):
Lucy Miller:
Right.
You may not be able to set up an account on your own. I will
say that most of the online systems understand that not
everyone is very computer savvy, so they typically offer
instructions and sometimes even help that you can access fro
the agency by sending an e-mail or something like that or –
but they typically have instructions. So get on it and noodle
around with it enough so that you can see where to get
perhaps some help. You can try to help the person in person
if your agency has that capacity for the beneficiary to come to
an office and work with you, but that may or may not be
possible.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 26
The other – you know, the next position you have is trying to
talk the person through the by phone.
(Donald Lovejay):
Lucy Miller:
And if that doesn’t work, you know, you got to find a
computer-knowledgeable person who can support the
beneficiary.
(Donald Lovejay):
Lucy Miller:
Right.
So, OK. So then you got to – got to come up with another
option.
(Donald Lovejay):
Lucy Miller:
Yes.
So, yes. It's you know, it's a challenge in trying to do
services remotely. You know, it's difficult especially when
working on a computer and the person's not very computer
literate. I know. And for some people the online option just
won't work.
(Donald Lovejay):
Lucy Miller:
OK.
OK.
Yes.
(Donald Lovejay):
Just thought I'd throw it out there.
Lucy Miller:
Oh, I agree. I hear you. I understand. Anyone else?
Operator:
There are no further questions.
Lucy Miller:
OK. Awesome. Let's take – we; revealed going to look
at each different kinds of benefits and we're going to
go over what the process is. So we're back up on slide
13, and we’re going to talk about how you verify the
Social Security benefits that people get and the primary
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 27
source of information that you need is the ever popular
BPQY which stands for Benefits Planning Query.
Now, this is a special report that verifies a variety of
things that CWIC need. The type and the amount of
disability benefits will be on the BPQY. There would
also be important information about current and past
work and work incentive usage. There is some limited
information on the BPQY about Medicare. There was
almost nothing available on the BPQY to help with
Medicaid.
Now, the BPQY is unfortunately not programmed into
the online account system that Social Security has for
beneficiaries that’s known as my Social Security. Now,
you can verify certain things through my Social
Security. You can set up that online account. You can
go in. You can see, you know, what do I get. I get SSI
and maybe the amount but it isn’t going to give the
same information that a BPQY which is a program
report that you can only get from a Social Security
employee. OK. And if you’re going to be doing
individualized analysis and advisement with the
beneficiary, we really expect to get that BPQY and
there really isn’t anything else that’s available that is
comparable. OK.
So, it has to be generated by Social Security personnel.
Now, sometimes, the Social Security employees will ask
or tell you, “Oh, you don’t need the BPQY. We’ll give
you a TPQY, that stands for Third Party Query and
that’s a really common report that Social Security
probably runs thousands of times a day to give
beneficiaries something to document how much they
get in benefits.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 28
So, a lot of these folks are on other forms of benefits
and everybody is verifying every – all their benefits for
the other agencies, but the TPQY isn’t the same as the
BPQY. It doesn’t give you the Medicare and can give
you the work incentive to usage. It doesn’t have the
information about past work. So, it’s not comparable.
You don’t want a TPQY. You want a BPQY.
Now, on slide 14, how do you request it? Well, the best
way – well, the preferred way to request this is really
to ask the beneficiary to get this report themselves and
they can do that in a variety of way. That way you
don’t have to sign releases and all that, right? You can
do it in a variety of ways. You can go in person to the
Social Security Office and take your number and sit and
wait and request your BPQY.
These reports are not difficult to generate. The
desktop computers of Social Security employees have
had an icon on it. That’s the BPQY report, OK. It
doesn’t take long to generate the report. But you
know, when you go to those subfield offices, they’re
very busy and you may have to take that number and
wait and so that takes time. Another way and that’s
actually the preferred way, that you can get a BPQY is
by calling the National toll free line that Social Security
operates and speaking to one of the operators that’s
the request to BPQY.
I was working with the beneficiary recently like in the
last week who needed some help from me and I told
them to get at their BPQY. She – we get off the phone.
She called Social Security and literally within five
minutes, she called me back and she said, “OK, I’ve got
it.” What? Wow. Now, she was a very educated
beneficiary. She happened to have a home office, so
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 29
she had a fax machine but that customer service
representative that she got on the toll free line exactly
what the BPQY was asked her very specific questions
to make sure that really was what she wanted instead
of a TPQY, and when she satisfied that then they
generated it, they faxed her – faxed it to her. She
scanned it and sent it to me.
So, literally within five minutes from getting off the
phone with this woman, she had that report. So, now,
every experience that a beneficiary has may not be like
that, but I really do believe that the toll free line has
gotten quite efficient in this function and so we should
be encouraging beneficiaries to go ahead and call the
toll free line, request that BPQY. Now, not everybody
has a fax machine. I get that. But I bet you have a fax
machine and there’s nothing wrong with having the
beneficiary tell Social Security, “Please fax my BPQY to
Jane Smith, my CWIC, here’s the phone number.” All
right.
If the report belongs to the beneficiary, that
beneficiary can do anything he or she wants with that
report. OK. If there’s no fax capacity, Social Security
can mail that form to the beneficiary and then the
beneficiary can provide it to you. So, this really is the
way that we want you to be supporting beneficiaries to
get the BPQY. I think it is actually faster than the
whole signing the release of information, OK. So, if you
have a beneficiary who has the capacity to represent
themselves on the phone, this is really the preferred
method. Now, we have included the toll free number
on slide 14. OK.
That number is open I believe from 7 in the morning
until 7 at night, five days a week and my experience
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 30
with that, “Oh, I tried that two years ago and it didn’t
work out to good.” Try it, again. I think things have
changed. Now, if the beneficiary seems unable to do
this either go by themselves or call the toll free line or I
don’t know – there are some sort of undue delay. OK.
You may request the BPQY on behalf of the beneficiary
directly from the field office serving that person or
through the 800 number per current instructions.
Now, what that (have assigned) to sign releases will go
over this in the training on BPQY so that you know how
the releases have to be completed because it’s very
specific. Then you have to fax them into the local field
office and typically the field office will either fax them
back to your work fax number or they will mail them to
you. Now, please, these folks are very busy. Do not
batch your request.
So, every Friday, we’ll take all of the BPQY request and
fax them in. This is not a way to make friends at your
local field office. These are very busy people. OK.
Now, your field offices may have other instructions for
you about how they want to handle BPQY request. So,
you really should be checking with the field office
manager at each local field office that is in your service
area and end with the WIL, right, Work Incentive
Liaison to find out the process they want.
Now, I would be very surprised if they come up with
something other than, you know, we want you to fax it
in and we’ll get them to you but, you know, the
important thing is who do you fax them to, what name
do you put on them or, you know, is it just in general?
You won’t know the answers to that unless you talk to
somebody who’s in the leadership position in these
offices. So, don’t just assume you know, OK. This is,
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 31
again, some of the prep work that you need to do in
order to be efficient in your verification.
All right. On slide 15. There are two consent of release
form. I mentioned that earlier. There is a BPQY
Handbook. It’s available on our Web site but it’s also
on Social Security’s Web site and I’ve provided you
with the web address on slide 15. If you have never
read the BPQY Handbook, you should. This is a
program – a computer program that was developed by
Social Security employees to help them and their work
development issues and to help us as well, and the
handbook is extremely informative.
It is free. It’s available online and it provides you with
lots of information. You’ll see sample BPQYs in there.
It will show you what the releases of information need
to look like. OK. Now, we didn’t provide you with the
copy of that because we really want you to go to the
BPQY handbook directly and take a look at that and
read it and then look at how those releases are
supposed to be filled out.
All right. There’s that. So, on slide 16, some important
tips for getting those BPQYs in an efficient manner. Be
sure that if you have beneficiaries requesting their own
BPQYs and, again, that is the preferred method, that
you explain how it all works to the person before they
get on that 800 number or down the field office. You
need to explain what to expect and how to answer any
questions and make sure that they understand exactly
what it is they’re looking for.
Now, you can also reference that Social Security
publication called the Red Book. Most people should
have heard of that before and that is the Social Security
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 32
publication that explains the work incentives for the
disability program. The BPQY is referenced in the Red
Book. So, in case a Social Security employee seems
puzzled, you can reference that. OK. There is a form
number for the BPQY as well and that might be helpful
to provide that form number when you make that
request and that’s also available. You can find out
what that is when you – when you look at the – at the
BPQY Handbook.
No releases are necessary when a beneficiary requests
their own BPQY. There’s nothing to be signed. OK.
That they just have to verify their identity and make
the request. Again, you need to find out how local field
offices want request if they are coming from you. OK.
That’s really where you want the instruction. If you’re
the one that’s making the request, how do they want
that to be done?
Typically it’s a fax thing and a lot of this has to do with
methods of communication that are going to safeguard
PII, right? You don’t want to do anything that’s going
to compromise the beneficiaries’ confidentiality. There
should not be a fee charged for producing BPQYs and
sometimes the field office personnel might not be sure
who you are and might ask for a fee and you just need
to explain, you know, that you’re on Social Security
funded with the project and they won’t – if you’re
having trouble getting BPQYs from various field offices,
then don’t just sit there and keep requesting. Resolve
it.
You can start with the WIL. You can deal with the field
office manager or your AWIC, the Area Work Incentive
Coordinator, and in my experience, the AWICs are
invaluable in getting, you know, blockage release and
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 33
resolving problems at local field offices when you’re
struggling with getting those BPQYs. But don’t just sit
there and not do anything about it, use this process.
Again, if you’re not sure, call your TA liaison, your
assigned person or VCU will hold your hand through
this and offer advice about where to go to get that
result.
All right. On slide 17, the BPQY is not perfect, OK. It
does not contain all of the information the CWIC would
need to provide comprehensive counseling in some
cases, in many cases. Some BPQYs contain errors, OK.
If there’s – misinformation in the Social Security data
system that’s going to be misinformation on the BPQY.
So, you can’t look at the BPQY and as if it’s gospel. All
right. You’ve got to – you’ve got to kind of be detective
when you look at them and watching for things that
don’t look right. Now, BPQYs can be very confusing.
There are going be times when they – you cannot
figure out what’s going on by looking at that piece of
paper.
Now, you can call or e-mail your VCU liaison and we
may be able to help some but we don’t have access to
Social Securities to computer system anymore than you
do. So, sometimes you’re going to have talk at Social
Security and that’s just something to understand that
the BPQY doesn’t mean you never have to talk to
anyone at that agency. There are going to be times
when things have to be explained.
Now, on slide 18, what is the verification needed
beyond the BPQY. Well, there’s a variety of things that
you’re going to need. For example, you will see on the
BPQY when the SSI is being reduced that will show our
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 34
reduction. It will show differences in the full and net
amount but it’s not going to tell you why the check is
being reduced. There’s one exception. It will show you
with some money is being withheld to recover in
overpayment.
But everything else, you may have to get some
assistance. Part D – Medicare Part D enrollment or any
information related to low income subsidy eligibility is
not going to be available. Specific information about
Medicaid eligibility category is beyond the SSI conduit.
Remember Social Security does not administer
Medicaid. In some states as soon as you establish
eligibility for SSI, Medicaid eligibility is processed but
not all states are like that, and beyond that one specific
conduit, your Social Security administration knows
nothing about the person’s Medicaid’s data.
So you have to go to your state Medicaid agency.
Remember, information about the beneficiary spouse and
dependents are not going to be on that BPQY other than just
a total amount of the family benefit. You also are not going
to be able to get EXR status verified on the BPQY. You’ll see
weird things on the BPQY when EXR is in play but it typically
requires a phone call.
And past work, if somebody’s work, the BPQY is going to
show you what Social Security knows but it may not tell you
the whole truth. Okay, it’s going to show you what the Social
Security administration had developed, what they’re aware of
but there maybe work that pops on the BPQY that clearly
Social Security is unaware of.
And we’ll talk about that at the next training but you have to
understand, the BPQY is awesome, it’s the best we’ve got but
it isn’t perfect. It will have some errors on occasion, it will
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 35
have confusing things on occasion, it’s not going to give you
everything you need in every circumstance. There are going
to be times you need to talk to a human being who works for
Social Security.
All right, slide 19, let’s go over some other ways of verifying
other types of benefits, some common kinds of benefits. And
again, this is all provided in detail on that quick reference
chart. So, something that people often need, we need to
verify Medicare, we need to know what parts people are in.
Are they in Part D? Is the person getting help with the lowincome subsidy and what they called Extra Help?
All right, there a couple of ways to go about this. You can call
Medicare 1800-633, the number is there, that you – you got
the beneficiary with you. But again the beneficiary or my
preference using the my Medicare self-service feature at –
and there is the Web site address. The web address is listed
for you there on 19. Again, so that’s one of those online
account systems and it’s awesome and it provides lots of
information.
So you should be going there, instructing your beneficiaries to
open account, so that they can manage their Medicare and –
that you can get verification, right. Remember Part D lowincome subsidy is means-tested program. It would be – it
does have to be very verified.
All right. What about Ticket to Work status, well best way to
verify the Ticket to Work is having the beneficiary call the
Ticket to Work helpline. And the number is provided for you
here on slide 19. Now the people on the helpline are not
going to talk to you to, to CWIC, they won’t, period. They will
not talk to you, so beneficiaries have to call the Ticket to
Work helpline directly.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 36
Now if you know how to do with (three windows) before with
beneficiaries, you can be online with the beneficiary when you
call the helpline, so that you can help prompt the beneficiary,
ask the right question or help them understand what the
customer service representative is telling them. But by
yourself, you cannot call the helpline. They will not talk to
you. All right, that’s just – it’s set up to really safeguard that
PII.
All right, how about other federal benefits on slide 20 here.
Veterans benefits, thank goodness, we now have the
awesome eBenefits system. It’s very comprehensive, you can
do lots of things on that portal. Any veterans that you’re
working with who tell you they’re getting anything from the
VA needs to sign up for the system because there are so
many different benefits that you can get from the VA. It gets
really complicated and this system is extremely helpful.
Now there is a toll free line, there’s the number listed for you
on slide 20. Again, (you), they will talk to the veterans, they
will talk to you and the veterans on a three-way call but
they’re not going to talk to you without the veteran. But you
know up to like three years ago or two years ago before the
eBenefits system rolled out, this was one of the most tricky
areas to get verification from. If the veteran had not kept
correspondents from the VA, we were really struggling to get
these benefits verified. This is awesome, all right, so
encourage your vets.
Now the housing and urban development, all right, this is
where you need to verify, which rental subsidy program a
person is in. If they say they’re in, you know, section A or
they’re involved in PHA or public housing authority, public
housing unit, you will have to make contacts at the local
housing authority.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 37
Now some housing authorities maybe very tech savvy. They
may have a way to set up an online account. Some agencies
actually have a dedicated line – a number that you call for
verification of a variety of things. That’s awesome too but
remember they’re not going to talk to you, they’ll talk to the
beneficiary or you with the beneficiary.
I would say housing – PHA, public housing authority, this is
the area where I’m hearing the most from CWIC that they’re
struggling to facilitate relationships to get contact person.
But that is something you should be checking with your
beneficiaries. Do they have a case worker at the PHA? Is
there somebody that they worked with there, that you can
call? Get that release of information, get it in, give that
person a call and see if you can fill out the little template, get
your over the phone verification done.
And if you read the chapter on the various kinds of round
subsidies, you’ll see there’s a lot of different programs and
they’re treated differently depending on which program you’re
– what could happen when you go to work. So, it’s really
important that you know which program they’re in.
Slide 21. How to verify all the different state administeredbenefits? Well, there are lots of different kinds of
administered benefits and this could be things from like
LIHEAP which is way to get assistance with your energy bills.
Lots of states also offer specific veterans benefit. In addition,
(to) benefits are delivered to the VA or through the
Department of Defense.
There are some other programs, so you need to find out
where are these benefits administered and again develop
those (relationships) and figure out what is the protocol that
these agencies want in terms of verification. And the biggest
one is really Medicaid, that is a state-administered program.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 38
I know it’s a state/federal partnership, some of the fund is in
the Medicaid program are federal in nature but states
administered that, not Social Security and it’s one of the
trickiest areas in our experience to get verified and it takes
some knowing, some getting to know how to do it.
And this is an area where if you come from a new project,
perhaps there’s an existing WIPA project in your state, that
you could talk to find out what this process is. If you’re a
new staff person in a – of a project, get with your colleagues,
get with your supervisor. You don’t want to be out there
reinventing the wheel, talk to people who had already done
all of this due diligence to figure out what the process is.
Don’t reinvent that wheel.
Now on slide 22. There are always discrepancies, okay, so
whenever you get verified information, you need to be looking
to see, does it fit, what the beneficiary told you? And is it
consistent with what you know about that program and their
eligibility rule and is there missing or outdated information or
information that just doesn’t make sense?
Now this take some experience and you’ll get better the
longer you do the job, you’ll get better at figuring out when
there’s a problem but in the meantime you may want to
partner with the more experienced person if you see anything
on a verification, maybe your supervisor could help you
review or a more experienced CWIC.
And you need to know, all right, so who do I call when the
verification is confusing or there’s missing information or if
there’s discrepancies or inconsistencies. And again, this is
going to vary by agency. It might be that there’s a direct line
worker that you call, there might be a supervisor that you’re
supposed to call.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 39
And even in the same agency like Social Security, different
field offices are going to have different protocols that they
want you to follow when things don’t look right. So, there’s
no way around it. You have to do your research. You got to
contact these agencies. This is a – tedious process. I
understand that it’s a time consuming process but it
absolutely had to be done to save you time in the future. You
need to know how do these agencies want you to work with
them, so that you can get the information you need.
On slide 23, they’re going to have BPQY discrepancies.
Remember that the BPQY pulls from a variety of different
sources and they’re listed here on slide 23. Sometimes the
information needs to be updated. So you know, you got to
see things like unreported earnings, you’re going to see, oh,
my gosh, this person is moved into a different living
arrangement and they’re still continuing to charge that person
with in-kind support (Audio Gap).
There are going to be things that need to be fixed. Again,
there’s no way to do this without talking to a human being
who works at Social Security. And different field offices are
going to have different preferences, who they want you to
talk to. And you don’t want to make the employees (Audio
Gap) that you want to follow-up their protocol. All right, this
– we need to do everything we can to stay on the absolute
best working relationships we can with – with the folks that
work in a local field office.
On slide 24, you want to make sure that you document your
verifications, right. Nothing is ever finished until all that
paperwork is done. So you want to maintain copies of the
BPQY or whatever correspondents the beneficiary has sent
you. You want to maintain this documentation on file. You
can have a hard copy, a paper file where this material is – is
housed and where that had to be locked, right.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 40
Nobody else is supposed to access to that information except
with the personnel. You can upload it into the ETO data
system and if you’re new to the whole process, that will be –
you’ll be taught how to do that. Okay, it’s not rocket science.
You want to make sure that it’s clear. So if you had to call an
agency to get verbal verification over the phone, you want to
make sure that’s documented and staff note or that you’re
using the little template that we provided, whatever your –
with the project has decided upon, you need to follow the
protocol that your program is put into place and make sure
you’re consistent on that.
Because if you leave, somebody else is going to take your
place. You want to make sure that it’s absolutely clear in the
electronic record or the paper record what this person is
getting and how you verify that, all right. There has to be
documentation. Just the beneficiary say so, that’s not
verification, okay.
Now how often to verify? Well sometimes people think, oh, I
do it at the beginning, when I first meet person, then I’m
done. Well I’m sorry, it’s true, so if you’re providing ongoing
services, benefits may need to be verified, reverified multiple
times.
So if you’re continuing to work intensively with the person,
let’s say, who’s – who’s about to graduate from college and
start looking for a job or maybe it’s an employed individual
and you’ve been working with them proactively over a period
of time. If it’s been more than six months or a new calendar
year, you need to double check to see if benefits need to be
reverified before you provide additional counseling.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 41
Benefits changed, right. Food stamps go up and down. HUD
rental subsidies go up and down. SSI checks go up and
down. What if you have a beneficiary with undeveloped work
and you help them get all of that verified and all of that wage
information in the Social Security.
Another time you might want to verify to see, okay, did Social
Security act on the wage information we sent. That means
you might need to request another BPQY after all of the wage
information has been submitted to see is that work CDR being
– being completed, okay.
Work incentives information might need to be updated. Let’s
say the person get the past plan or an early has been
approved or you requested changes in disability designation,
maybe you found an individual who is blind, that Social
Security didn’t have doubt is being a blind individual. You
want to make that change and then you need to get
verification that change was made. And the way you do that
is by requesting another BPQY.
Now if the beneficiary calls you to verify, to tell you that
something is changed, that’s another time that you may want
to reverify, all right. The trick is you just don’t want to be
providing information to people if what you have on file is – is
outdated or incorrect or not complete. So you know, when in
doubt, go ahead and reverify. If you’re not sure, reverify, but
there are reasons to reverify that can actually make your job
easier and that primarily refers to getting multiple BPQYs over
time to make sure the changes that you have been helping
the beneficiary implement are actually being implemented at
Social Security.
On slide 26, you know, here’s an important part – an
important point to make. You know the beneficiary needs to
be involved in the verification process. There are certain kind
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 42
of verification like the online account system or calling the
Medicare toll-free line or calling the Ticket to Work line that
you cannot just go sit in your office and do. It’s impossible.
The beneficiary needs to take some initiative. Now, we know
some beneficiaries need help. If that person has a spouse or
a parent who can help or a rep payee, who can help that’s
great. If there isn’t anybody to support that individual and
you are kind of the last person there, go ahead and step in,
but remember you need to involve the beneficiary.
BPQYs should always be shared with the beneficiary. If that
person hasn’t requested it themselves and you’re requesting
it, you need to close that feedback loop and get that BPQY to
the beneficiary. It’s worth it to have them go through it and
explain things so that they understand.
If there are any issues that you identify during verification
that are odd, the first step is to call the beneficiary to find out
huh Social Security is showing this, what do you know about
that or you told me this, but this is what’s showing, do you
have any further information and again you’re not
interrogating, you’re just sharing the information. You’re
asking the beneficiary for clarification, seeing what they know
about a potential problem and then you can go from there to
see do I need to call Social Security or get back with the Food
Stamp Office or find somebody at the VA who can help me
right.
So start with the beneficiary. Always start with the
beneficiary. You may even have to get additional releases of
information signed. Remember that the releases of
information that you send in for a BPQY that’s all there for.
They get you the BPQY period, end of discussion.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 43
If you need to talk to somebody to gain information that’s not
on the BPQY, guess what you got to get a signed release.
Nobody at Social Security is going to talk to you without that
right. So check with the beneficiary first because if they can
clarify for you what’s going on here it may be that you can
move forward and not have to go the next step, but if there
are still questions, you may need to go ahead and send the
releases in, get them signed, send them back to you, get
them into Social Security so that you have the authority to
call the will, the AWIC, the claims rep whoever it is that you
need to talk to.
In final spot there on slide 27, verification is a pain in the
neck. I mean that’s just – that’s just the fact. It’s tedious.
It’s time consuming. It’s frustrating, but it is the cornerstone
of the comprehensive services you provide. There’s no way
around it.
You have to verify before you counsel or you risk making an
error that could really hurt a beneficiary and potentially
multiple family members and nobody listening to this call
wants that to happen. We know that. So we got to do it.
We want you to verify in the quickest, easiest, most efficient
ways possible. We don’t want you to spend a ridiculous
amount of time verifying things needlessly or using processes
that are cumbersome if there are quicker and easier ways to
do your due diligence. Get the job done. Get the information
confirmed that you need in order to move forward with that
analysis.
Now a second final thought, if there is any way for you to
build relationships and we know you can’t personally go to
every agency especially now with the new service design.
Projects are bigger. They are serving more counties. You
may have less staff.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 44
We know you cannot be driving all over the place, you know,
glad-handing, but there’s still ways to make relationships with
people, by phone, through outreach. The more relationships
you have with the people who work at these agencies, the
easier it’s going to be for you to get the information you need
because you’re not just an anonymous agency personnel that
no one has ever met, you’re someone that that hard worker
has talked to before. You’re somebody that the TANF worker
has met. You’re somebody that Medicaid eligibility worker
has dealt with so you’re a known entity and this is just human
nature to the extent that you can spend time building these
relationships.
Over time, you will find the verification process going
smoother, being faster, being less frustrating. Work with
your colleagues and I’ve said that like 27 times already in the
hour and a half and I’m going to say it again if you’re new in
a WIPA Project, check with your more experienced colleagues
and your boss. If you are working for a new WIPA Project if
there are any other WIPA Projects in your state, reach out to
them, reach out because they would have already done a lot
of this work.
Everyone wants to be successful. WIPA Projects are willing to
help their counterparts in other parts of the state. Share
information. OK.
We’re all in this together, but if you don’t ask then, you know,
no one is going to call you up and say “hi, would you like to
know how to verify Medicaid status in the State of Tennessee,
let me tell you all about it.” You have to make that and take
that initiative.
Your – I mean your supervisor, your project manager needs
to be reaching out and remember everybody on this call,
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 45
every WIPA Project is required by Social Security to get
training on all of those state specifics about the Federal
Benefit Programs and the State Benefit Programs. That’s a
requirement.
So as part of that training, we should be asking tell me how
you want us to get to contact you when we need to verify
benefits. We don’t want to create work for you, but we do
have to verify what works best. Ask those questions.
But we’re doing really well on time so (Derek), let’s take
another call for questions and see what else people are
confused about.
Operator:
Yes ma’am. At this time, if you would like to ask a question,
please press star then one on your telephone keypad. Again,
if you would like to ask a question, please press star then the
number one.
A question from the line of (Clark Young).
Lucy Miller:
Hi.
(Clark Young): On the recertification, do you update the BS&A or do you just
put an addendum on to what you already written?
Lucy Miller:
Either one, it depends. It depends on what the recertification
shows, how big the changes are and whether you could just
add a little update sheet or whether it blows everything out of
the water and you need to start over with the BSNA. You can
do either and I’ve seen both and it really depends on what
was the change and how much of a mess does that change
going to create, how much explanation is it going to require.
Yes.
(Clark Young): Yes.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 46
Lucy Miller:
Either way.
(Clark Young): OK.
Lucy Miller:
Yes.
Operator:
Your next question comes from the line of (Ronald Dees).
Lucy Miller:
Hi.
(Ronald Dees): Hi. Is it acceptable to use health insurance cards as a way
to verify Medicare and Medicaid benefits?
Lucy Miller:
You cannot use it for Medicaid because in many states, the
Medicaid card will only verify like one type of Medicaid and
people can get multiple forms of Medicaid all at the same time
and it won’t be indicated on the card so that won’t work at all.
Medicare, I haven’t looked at a Medicare card in a long time, I
would still say that’s not a good idea, but Medicare is so easy
to verify by using the My Medicare online feature that it takes
five seconds. I mean you set up an account. It verifies
everything. It verifies enrollment in Part A, Part B, whether
they get a Medicare Savings Program, which actually the
BPQY verifies some of that. It verifies Part D enrollment and
low-income subsidy so yes, a card from Medicare – I can’t
think of either working very well Medicaid or Medicare.
(Ronald Dees): If they go online to make the account, do they have to do
an identity verification process like the My SSA accounts or
just type in Social Security and done?
Lucy Miller:
I haven’t helped anybody do a My Medicare for a while. I
don’t recall it being an onerous process. I think it’s pretty
quick.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 47
(Ronald Dees):
Lucy Miller:
Oh great. OK, thank you.
You know but it’s a – it’s a wonderful feature. It really is and
remember there’s a toll-free line. You can call the toll-free
line for Medicare as well. You can’t do it, but the beneficiary
can do it.
So if they are a little intimidated by the computer, there is a
toll-free line – number and you can give the beneficiary a list
of questions right. They ask the questions, write down the
answers and bring it back to you or …
(Ronald Dees):
Lucy Miller:
… you can sit in on the call, do a three-way call.
(Ronald Dees):
Lucy Miller:
Oh.
OK.
I’ve done it. Yes, you have to learn how to work your phone.
On three-way calls.
(Ronald Dees):
Lucy Miller:
Yes, I know I’m not great with technology either, but I’ve
done it when I served the folks in California and Pennsylvania,
I had to learn to do it and sometimes I even had to have like
the language line on the phone with me so four people were
on the phone, the interpreter.
(Ronald Dees):
Lucy Miller:
Interpreter.
Yes that’s always fun.
(Ronald Dees):
Lucy Miller:
Yes.
Wow.
Yes. Right. Next question.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 48
Operator:
Next question from the line of (Janine Fay).
Lucy Miller:
Hi, (Janine).
(Jean):
Hi. It’s actually (Jean), but I …
Lucy Miller:
(Jean). I’m just getting everybody’s name wrong today. I’m
so sorry.
(Jean):
No, it wasn’t your fault. Anyway, my question is if you need
to speak to someone at Social Security because there appears
to be an error on the BPQY …
Lucy Miller:
Right, yes.
(Jean):
… do you need a specific release form for that?
(Crosstalk)
Lucy Miller:
Yes, you would need a 3288 and on the 3288, you would
need to list the specific pieces of information that you need.
(Jean):
OK.
Lucy Miller:
Yes and you know then you have to fax it in and then you
have to call whatever designated person that field office has
told you is going to fill the question and you have to ask that
question …
(Jean):
OK.
Lucy Miller:
… from claims reps. I have – I have encountered really kind
claims reps that will give their cards to beneficiaries and say
“I am your claims rep. Here is my card,” you know, with their
e-mail address or you know, their phone number and
sometimes your beneficiaries will know (upon) that’s the
claims rep, but you should still do the relationship building
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 49
with each field office in your area and ask the manager “when
we have questions about this who do you want me to call.”
(Jean):
OK.
Lucy Miller:
They’ll tell you. Yes.
(Jean):
OK and you just use the 3288 with the specific claims.
Lucy Miller:
You do. You do indeed and you just would list I need to know
this, this, this and this. Yes.
(Jean):
OK. Thank you.
Lucy Miller:
Yes. Anyone else?
Operator:
Your next question comes from the line of (Irene McCollum).
Lucy Miller:
Hi.
(Irene McCollum):
Hi. You mentioned about (if we want to see) state
specifics training …
Lucy Miller:
Yes.
(Irene McCollum):
Lucy Miller:
… how would we find out about that?
Well first of all, you need to check with your supervisor
because that is something that in your contract, or
cooperative agreement with Social Security that you have
committed to then you have to (release) that and that can be
a challenge. You have to find people in each of the agencies
that administer programs that have state variance who can
provide you with training. So usually at your State Medicaid
Agency, there will be some type of policy analyst who can
help with that. Sometimes, there is a statewide trainer that
provide that at the agency that administers SNAP. It might
be just the direct service worker or a public relations person
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 50
who either you go to their agency or they go to your agency
and they provide you with training on here’s how our program
works, here’s how it’s affected by working.
And, you know, your manual is a good place to start because
there are very, very good chapters on TANF, SNAP and HUD,
but all those chapters give you are these federal parameters
and they’re – some of these programs have significant state
variance like Medicaid and there’s no way that your VCU
liaison can even help you with that because they may serve
10 states and not know all of the Medicaid rules for every one
of those states.
So it is an obligation that you have and so you have to get in
touch with those agencies, find out who’s out there and get
trained.
(Irene McCollum):
Thank you.
Lucy Miller:
You’re welcome. Next question.
Operator:
There are no further question.
Lucy Miller:
Awesome. Well we got done a little early, which isn’t that
common, so I’m so delighted that everybody was able to dial
in today. Remember this training will be archived. It will be
popped out on our website so if you have coworkers that
weren’t able to dial in, it’s all recorded. All the materials will
be archived.
We send out an announcement over the National Listserv
when it’s available as an archived event. Don’t forget you’ll
be sent an evaluation. If you have questions about the
content of today’s training and you were kind of shy and you
didn’t want to ask them, if you write them on the evaluation
form, I will answer them. I will e-mail you directly, but make
NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Moderator: Lucy Miller
11-19-15/2:00 p.m. ET
Confirmation # 78904121
Page 51
sure you put your e-mail address on there and remember that
will take me about 10 days because all the evaluations have
to come back in and they are summarized in a report before I
get that, but if you can wait for an answer, you’re more than
welcome to submit questions to me directly through your
evaluation.
Your assessment, don’t forget to take your assessment.
You’ll get a link to that. So you could take it. You have to
score at least an 80. I write the assessments. I don’t make
them hard OK. The point is to just verify that you read the
slides and listen to the lecture and as long as you have the
slides open in front of you, you should not have difficulty with
the assessment.
So I hope everybody has a terrific afternoon and we’ll be
hearing my voice again in a couple of weeks when we do the
next supplemental training that’s on December 3rd, same
time, 2 o’clock Eastern Time and that will be on interpreting
BPQY so we’ll talk to you then. Have a great afternoon. Bye,
bye.
Operator:
Thank you for your participation in today’s conference call.
You may now disconnect.
END